Believe it or not, building an aircraft is a complicated process. It is one thing to design the aircraft on paper or more likely, on the computer, but it is another thing to piece it together. Specialized tools and hardware are required to fix the various aircraft components in place and allow for any mechanical movement to occur. Bearings are small pieces of hardware that house linear or rotational movement. As the name suggests, bearings bear weight within a piece of machinery, and are particularly useful in reducing the amount of friction within a machine. The moving parts have a smaller surface area than two rigid components moving past one another. By decreasing the amount of friction inside a machine, you are effectively increasing the lifespan of the machine. Bearings are widely used across the aviation, marine, and defense industries. There are numerous types of bearings including the popular rod end bearing. Read more >>

An aircraft adheres to similar principles of flight that birds do — it must overcome gravitational forces to achieve lift. In its simplest definition, the wings of an airplane curve the flow of air around them in order to generate lift. Read more >>

Aviation parts are strictly regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), whom are involved in all parts of manufacturing and distribution. Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) or manufacturers with a Parts Manufacturing Approval (PMA) may produce aircraft parts. Read more >>

Airports are one of those types of places that don’t make any sense, or, at least, to the untrained eye they don’t. For all the chaos that happens in the terminals, especially around security screening and luggage claims, the chaos of the tarmac seems so much worse. In fact, the chaotic nature of the tarmac isn’t just worse, it’s incredibly expensive and has now become a bit of a priority to address. Read more >>

All aircraft are fitted with some form of a direct current electrical system (DC) which generates, transmits, distributes, and stores electrical energy. These systems usually operate at 14- or 28-volts.  Aircraft electrical systems are an integral component to an aircraft because they provide it with power.  Most of these systems consist of the below components: Read more >>

One of the hardest things to do in the aviation industry is to deal with parts. An aircraft’s life can be long, but the same can’t be said for all of its parts. Some parts have to be replaced more frequently than others. And sometimes, you may need to replace these parts only to find out that they are no longer being manufactured. Luckily, there are procedures and authorizations in place that allow you to get the parts you need. To start, you can look at the original manufacturer part numbers, alternates, and PMA parts. Alternatively, you can look into alternate part numbers that have one-way or two-way interchangeability. Read more >>

“Turbo”. It sounds like some fake concept that Hollywood made up for the Fast and Furious franchise, but it’s not. It’s a real thing. “Turbo” is actually short for “turbocharger” a real engine component for cars. Turbochargers, in a nutshell, is a supercharger driven by a turbine powered by the engine’s exhaust gases. Read more >>

Turbochargers, despite what some may think, are not a figment of fanciful Hollywood imaginations. They’re a real engine component, generally geared more for use on aircraft, used on vehicles to make them more efficient. And they work in one of two ways, “turbocharging” and “turbonormalizing”. Read more >>

A Parts Manufacturer Approval (PMA), is an alternate replacement part approved by the FAA. PMA parts are used in maintenance for type-certificated aircraft and engines. Approval for PMAs are granted based on a combination of design, production, and installation in one single document. PMA has a long history dating back almost 60 years to World War 2. After the war, there was a big supply of surplus military aircrafts. During this time, most OEMs who manufactured aircraft parts and aviation hardware components during the war went back to their regular production of automobiles and appliances. This made securing aircraft parts difficult. To assist this growing market, the FAA introduced PMA regulations to assist in the availability of aircraft replacement parts. Read more >>

Boeing company just recently increased its already large investment in additive manufacturing. Additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, is becoming the future of manufacturing. 3D printing is a process in which materials are meshed together using a computer software and then printed creating a three-dimensional object. 3D printing is being used in many different fields to lower the cost of production and shorten lead times. Boeing is showing a huge interest in Morf3D, a 3D printing company with a focus in the metal-based engineering field. Morf3D has technology that has allowed them to create stronger and lighter aircraft components.  The company has a mission to provide innovative solutions to sustain eco-systems while solving complex design and manufacturing challenges that fully benefit today’s world. Morf3D has already created many products for Boeing which include aluminum and titanium components for helicopters and satellites. Read more >>